“Good point.” Zoe’s blond hair streamed behind her as the glamour faded on the way up the steps. Her hands were already extended and glowing red as we landed in front of the door. “Here we go.”
She blasted the handle, causing the door to splinter and fly open, and swooped in with a deranged smile on her face.
“Honey, I’m home.”
Twenty-One
Zoe didn’t wait. She fired directly into the house. For a split second, all I could picture was some innocent family sitting at the dinner table ... and dying for no reason.
Then I heard a familiar noise.
“Wraiths!” Cillian barked, withdrawing a silver knife from the inside of his coat and brandishing it with determination.
I’d been prepared for revenants. I’d even been prepared for innocents. I was not prepared for wraiths.
“What the ... ?”
A black-cloaked figure darted in front of me, long fingers and blood-red fingernails lashing out toward my face. I reacted out of instinct, blowing a bolt of magic into the creature. It knocked him back, eliciting one of the thin screams the creatures were known to emit, but the wraith remained on its feet.
“It’s enhanced,” Braden offered, breathless. He had his own knife and darted in to stab the creature. It easily evaded him, and extended an arm to grab him.
Because I knew wraiths could literally suck the life out of a reaper — even faster than a human — I shoved Braden out of the way to make sure he wasn’t caught off-guard. He grunted when our bodies collided, but since he wasn’t expecting the blow from my side he was knocked off kilter.
I prepared myself for another explosion of magic but Zoe beat me to it. She strode forward, taking three long steps, and pressed her hands to the creature’s chest, above fabric and thankfully not touching skin.
“Have a nice day,” she offered as the creature began to smoke, eyes bulging out of its head. Within three seconds, the wraith exploded from the inside, covering the three of us with a thin layer of ash.
“Oh, gross,” Braden complained as he swiped his arm across his forehead. “Ugh. Now I’m covered in wraith. What is it with your family blowing things up?”
Zoe merely shrugged before advancing into the house. “There were at least six of them,” she said. “All but one ran.”
“Were they all enhanced?” Cillian queried.
“I don’t know what that means.” Her face was blank. “I don’t even know what they are.”
“Then how did you know to destroy it?” Luna challenged.
Zoe shrugged. “I find, as I get older, that blowing things up seems like the best option no matter the foe. The only time it’s not a good idea is if you’re dealing with something large and viscous … like Swamp Thing viscous.”
“Or a revenant,” I reminded her.
“Hey, that thing is dead and nobody was hurt. I’m not going to tell Sami to go against her instincts in a situation like that. She saved everybody and didn’t even get sweaty. That’s a win in my book.”
Because she had a point, I opted not to argue with her. “Let’s track down the others. They won’t flee the house in the middle of the day. That means we can hunt them.”
“It also means they can hunt us,” Braden pointed out. “Maybe we should call Dad.” His expression told me he regretted the statement the second it escaped from his mouth. “And, no, I’m not saying that because I need my daddy.” He directed a pointed scowl toward Zoe.
For her part, the mage merely smirked. “Call him if you want. We’re in this, though, and I’m not letting them regroup. Stay here. I’ll handle the rest.”
My mouth dropped open. “You can’t possibly think we’re going to let you go at this alone.”
“I’m fine,” she reassured me. “I’ve got this. I’ve faced way worse.”
“I’m going with you,” Luna said in a low voice, her eyes flat. Danger lurked beneath her surface, much like what Zoe boasted when going on the attack. “If we work together, we can take them down twice as fast.”
Zoe hesitated, and I knew what was going through her mind. No matter her age — whether she really was an adult or not — Luna was still young. Zoe didn’t want to risk her. It was that realization that snapped me out of my reverie.
“We’ll all go,” I countered. “We’re stronger together than apart.” I cast a look toward Braden. “You and Cillian should go back to the truck. Call your father. We’ll be okay.”
“Absolutely not.” Braden’s head shake was fervent. “I’m not being separated from you.”
“I’m not either,” Cillian offered. “If we’re going to do this, it will be as a group. We’re not separating.”
“Fine.” Zoe kept her voice low. “I’ll lead the way. This will be quicker than you think.”
She sounded convinced but there was a low murmur of fear running through the back of my mind. What if it wasn’t okay? What if something terrible happened? Would I regret this choice forever? Before I could tackle even one of the questions, Zoe disappeared into the hallway, igniting her hand in yellow fire to lead the way.
Luna didn’t say a single word as she turned to follow. Together, they were a fearsome twosome, but there was nobody there to act as an anchor for either of them — and while I knew Zoe would make it home to her family no matter what, I feared Luna might recklessly sacrifice herself if she thought she could make a difference for the weak being hunted on the streets.
I held out my hands to Braden, helpless, and then ducked my head as I followed. We were in this now. We would have to not only fight but win.
I wasn’t familiar with the
